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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 3:23
Compiling the 2022 Top Apps Data and the Top Three
Steph Smith introduces the episode and asks Olivia Moore how she built her dataset. Moore recorded the number one US App Store app for every day of 2022. The top three were BeReal, TikTok and Gas App.
- •Moore used Appfollow.io daily rankings and logged the top app for every day of 2022
- •BeReal, TikTok and Gas App spent the most days at number one
- •Gas App launched in the fall and still took third place for the year
- •Rankings measure days spent at the top of the US App Store
- 3:23 – 8:58
A New Era of Social: Authenticity Over Curated Feeds
Smith asks whether social is entering a new age. Moore notes that the top five apps by days at the top were all social, and that three of them didn't exist two years ago. She describes a shift toward authentic, interactive experiences with close friends and away from curated feeds.
- •Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook didn't reach the top at all, possibly because they've saturated the US user base
- •2021's top five mixed social, fintech, Zoom and traditional media apps
- •BeReal, Gas App and LiveIn favor candid, delightful interactions with a small group of close friends
- •Smith frames these apps as pushing back on the heavily curated previous generation
- 8:58 – 10:15
What It Takes to Hit and Stay at Number One
Moore explains that number one needs roughly 100,000 US iOS downloads in a day, and that new number ones are arriving faster each year. Most apps hold the spot only briefly, so staying there is harder than reaching it.
- •Hitting number one probably takes around 100,000 or slightly more US iOS downloads on a given day
- •Competitors include big-budget apps like Peacock, DoorDash and HBO Max
- •More than half of number-one apps held the spot for fewer than five days
- •TikTok virality makes breaking in easier, but staying requires a retentive product with network effects
- 10:15 – 13:25
Building Sticky Products with Network Effects and Real-World Hooks
Moore says retention comes from products that deliver value daily and improve as more people join, plus hooks that prompt sharing. BeReal's simultaneous daily drop and Gas App's high school FOMO are her examples.
- •Network-effect products get better as more people join
- •BeReal's daily synchronized notification creates in-person word-of-mouth moments
- •Gas App spread through high schools, with votes and notifications creating FOMO
- •Smith's SNL bank heist joke illustrates BeReal's cultural reach
- 13:25 – 17:23
Growing an App in 2023: Word of Mouth and User-Driven Virality
Smith notes that Gas App's Today Show segment reportedly produced only about 1,000 downloads. Moore calls word of mouth the purest, most lasting acquisition and says TikTok's organic and ad arbitrage will fade. Examples like Talking Ben the Dog and a dad's boating app show how user-driven virality plays out and how hard number one is.
- •Word of mouth is the ultimate form of acquisition, according to Moore
- •Building an audience on TikTok is getting harder and ads will get pricier as the arbitrage disappears
- •Talking Ben the Dog went viral after a 15-million-subscriber YouTuber debated serious topics with it
- •A daughter's TikTok about her father's boating app got over 20 million views yet only reached around number seven
- 17:23 – 19:39
2022 Category Winners: Widgets, AI Avatars and Anonymous Social
Moore outlines the themes behind 2022's top apps: widgets enabled by iOS 16, AI apps built on models like Stable Diffusion, and the evergreen anonymous social category. She notes that Gas App's founder built a similar app years earlier.
- •iOS 16 widgets on the home and lock screens fueled apps like Locket Widget, LiveIn, NoteIt and Widgetable
- •AI avatar and art apps dominated late Q3 and early Q4 after models like Stable Diffusion became available
- •Anonymous social apps recur every year, from Honesty Box to Gas App
- •The founder of Gas App sold to Discord after selling a similar app to Facebook around 2016-2017
- 19:39 – 21:36
Anonymous Social: Copying Past Hits and Their Staying Power
Smith asks whether founders should revisit past hits like Yik Yak. Moore says anonymous apps are a perennial debate, citing a new German number one called Slay. She questions whether they can last, since relationships aren't stored in them and they can decline as fast as they rise.
- •Smith suggests the underlying emotions, like wanting compliments, don't change across generations
- •Slay, a Gas App-like app, reached number one in Germany and raised a seed round
- •Anonymous apps may lack a lasting social graph or an act two
- •Core user groups can unravel quickly and move on
- 21:36 – 25:40
Early Monetization: Make Millions Fast
Smith asks whether a short-lived viral app that makes a few million dollars counts as a success. Moore agrees and says it has never been easier to monetize early. She cites Gas App's 10 million downloads and $6 million in revenue, and Lensa's AI avatar packs.
- •Gas App reportedly reached about 10 million downloads and $6 million in revenue before its acquisition
- •The old model was to reach mass scale and then monetize through ads
- •Moore points to Apple Pay and Google Pay adoption and a younger generation comfortable paying on their phones
- •Lensa reportedly earned upwards of $20 million in a couple of weeks selling $8 avatar packs and keeps releasing new styles
- 25:40 – 31:06
Monetization Models: In-App Purchases, Subscriptions and New Payers
Moore discusses how apps monetize: gaming-style in-app purchases, and subscriptions that are growing more aggressive on price. No paid-download app has hit number one. She also describes apps that earn from B2B or insurers, such as Calm's clinical offering.
- •Gaming's whale model informs in-app purchase strategies
- •No paid-download app has hit number one, in Moore's data
- •First-wave subscription apps charged about $60 a year; developers now test higher prices and tiers, such as Tinder's rumored $500-a-month tier
- •Calm launched a clinical mental health offering paid for by insurers
- •Smith shares an insurer rewards app example, and Moore mentions focus apps with gamified rewards
- 31:06 – 35:18
Leveraging Platform Shifts: Why Lensa Beat Web Avatar Apps
Smith and Moore conclude that apps can capitalize on platform changes without being first to market. Lensa succeeded where earlier web-based avatar tools did not, thanks to mobile convenience, a better name and push notifications.
- •Phone features like widgets and motion detection can be layered into new apps
- •Being first to market doesn't guarantee winning a space; keyword optimization, lower-cost ads and TikTok videos can help followers
- •Web avatar apps like ProfilePicture.ai and Avatar AI reportedly made far less than Lensa
- •Uploading photos from phone to computer was a pain point that mobile removed
- •Push notifications let Lensa announce new styles, while web apps relied on limited email
- 35:18 – 37:39
Surprising Hits: Real-World Events Driving App Spikes
Moore shares unexpected number-one apps tied to real-world moments, including 7-Eleven, McDonald's, Starlink, NOAA Climate and a period-tracking app. She says App Store data reveals what happened in a given year.
- •7-Eleven hit number one on free Slurpee Day and McDonald's on Free French Fry Day
- •Starlink topped the chart when it launched 52 satellites
- •NOAA Climate reached number one during Hurricane Ian
- •A privacy-focused period tracker hit number one days after Roe v. Wade was overturned
- 37:39 – 41:18
Looking Toward 2023: Temu and Invisible AI
Moore names Temu as an early 2023 leader, describing its gamified group-buying roots and discounted overseas goods. She predicts more invisible AI products that personalize to users, like TikTok. Smith adds that backend personalization may make apps stickier than in-your-face AI.
- •Temu, from Pinduoduo, topped the charts for about 22 of the first 25 days of 2023
- •Its referral gamification offers points, free items and cash for inviting friends
- •Moore expects Temu to finish at least in the top five
- •TikTok and Temu use hidden AI to tailor content and deals quickly
- •Smith argues such backend AI follows users' changing interests and creates stickiness
- 41:18 – 44:43
Limiting Virality and the Backlash Against Addictive Feeds
Moore describes a counterintuitive trend: startups throttling their own TikTok virality when the product can't retain the influx. Both discuss users limiting their time on TikTok, Gen Z creators pulling back, and BeReal-style short sessions as an alternative.
- •Some startups archive or shut off viral TikTok videos that bring more downloads than they can convert
- •Smith avoids TikTok because its algorithm is better than her self-control
- •Moore says Gen Z stars quitting TikTok resembles Selena Gomez leaving Instagram
- •Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts may benefit from the pullback
- •BeReal's few minutes a day is seen as a healthier way to engage
- 44:43 – 48:46
Vertical Social Networks: Strava, Goodreads and Squishmallows
Smith asks for examples where social is a modifier rather than the core. Moore describes vertical social networks built around a specific interest that become a system of record, like Strava, Goodreads and a Squishmallow-tracking app that reached the top 200. Smith links collecting to Beanie Babies.
- •Vertical networks focus on a specific interest and use real-world activity data
- •Strava and Goodreads are examples built around tracking activities
- •A Squishmallow collection tracker reached the top 200 in late November
- •Moore sees these as a respite from broad networks that suck users in
- •Smith compares Squishmallow collecting to Beanie Babies
- 48:46 – 53:00
When Digital Meets Physical: Relationship Apps and TikTok-Driven Local Business
Smith asks how apps affect real-world engagement. Moore describes relationship-focused apps like Locket Widget, and TikTok replacing Yelp for Gen Z discovery. She cites food reviewer Keith Lee's impact on small businesses and suggests small businesses work with smaller targeted creators.
- •A new wave of apps needs just two people to strengthen a real-world relationship
- •Locket Widget was created by Matt Moss for his long-distance girlfriend
- •Gen Z uses TikTok to discover restaurants and places, rather than Yelp
- •Keith Lee's reviews reportedly generated tens of thousands in revenue for small businesses in a day or two
- •Moore suggests small businesses engage smaller, targeted creators and watch which platform wins the next-gen Yelp
- 53:00 – 56:04
Geographic Shifts: More International Apps and TikTok's Democratization
Smith asks why more top apps come from outside the US. Moore says the share of new number ones built in the US fell from about 85% in 2021 to 45% in 2022. Foreign studios fast-follow trends and TikTok lets developers outside their home market go viral, as with TravelBoast.
- •US-developed new number ones dropped from nearly 85% in 2021 to 45% in 2022
- •BeReal comes from France, and apps came from China, Russia and Italy
- •International studios fast-follow trends like widgets and avatars
- •TikTok lets solo developers from abroad reach US audiences, as TravelBoast did with 500 million views
- 56:04 – 59:28
Subway Surfers: A Decade-Old App Hits the Top 10
Moore highlights Subway Surfers, launched in 2012, which recently cracked the top 10 most downloaded apps worldwide. She credits its world tour strategy, social presence and use as a background clip in split-screen TikToks. The conversation turns to shrinking attention spans.
- •Subway Surfers launched in 2012 and reportedly grew downloads 50% last year to around 300 million
- •Its location and graphics change every two weeks
- •It has seven million YouTube subscribers and six million on TikTok
- •Split-screen TikTok videos use gameplay to hold attention
- •Smith and Moore reflect on how attention spans are shrinking
- 59:28 – 1:03:53
The App Challenge: Building a Number One App for Pets
Smith asks what Moore would build to reach number one. Moore suggests a pet or dog app with a shareable asset, citing the trend of dogs as the new children. They riff on pet influencers, puppy livestreams and an app telling you how much you look like your dog.
- •Moore sees an opportunity in digital-first pet brands as people spend more on dogs
- •The app would generate a shareable asset to post on social platforms
- •They discuss puppy livestreams as an idea
- •Smith proposes an app comparing you to your dog and Moore says she'd download it
- •Smith closes by noting the App Store reflects what we engage with, and plans a follow-up with 2023 data
